Read Online 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done by Peter Bregman - Free Book Online
Authors: Peter Bregman
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categories: the stars, the good performers, and the ones who would become teachers but not performers. It turns out that the number one predictor of which category a violinist fell into was the number of hours of practice.
The future teachers had practiced four thousand hours in their lifetime. The good performers, eight thousand hours. And those who were categorized as stars? Every single one of them had practiced at least ten thousand hours.
And here’s the compelling part: There wasn’t a single violinist who had practiced ten thousand hours who wasn’t a star. In other words, ten thousand hours of practice guaranteed you’d be a star violinist. According to Gladwell, ten thousand hours of practice is the magic number to become the best at anything.
Which is why you’d better enjoy
trying
to achieve your goals. Because you’ll never spend ten thousand hours doing anything you don’t enjoy. And if you don’t enjoy the trying part, you’ll never do it long enough to reach your goal.
Eventually, after five or six canceled meetings, Lily and I met for lunch. Which, as it turned out, was perfect timing. When we finally met, she had a real need, which hadn’t existed when we’d first started scheduling a meeting.
By this time, I was familiar to her and the company even though I had never done any work for them. I had been around for months and they trusted me because I followed through on every commitment I made to them.
That year, I signed a large contract with Lily’s company. Twelve years later, they’re still a big client of Bregman Partners. And they still cancel lots of meetings.
To home in on your passion, think about what you love doing—what’s important enough to you that you’re willing to persist over the year, even when it feels like you’re not succeeding at it.
14
A Recipe for Finding the Right Work
Element Four: Pursue Your Passion (Ease)
D o you know anyone who tried for years to have a baby but couldn’t? Then, after giving up, maybe after adopting, suddenly, surprisingly, got pregnant?
Or someone who was dying to be in a relationship? Dated all the time, but never met the right person. Then, after accepting he would be alone, started focusing on other things and, lo and behold, met someone and got married?
How about someone who lost her job? Maybe she spent the next year working on her résumé, perusing job sites, devoting all her energy to getting work. All to no avail. Then, after deciding to stop looking so hard, out of the blue came a great job offer?
What is that? A karmic journey? A miracle? Statistical aberration? Pure random chance? Perhaps it never really happens; perhaps we remember those stories precisely because they are so unusual.
Or perhaps, it’s a really great strategy.
I heard a story from a friend of mine. She knows a guy who’s been out of work for more than a year. He’s spent the year working on his résumé and sending it out. He’s on Internet job sites every day. He tries to meet with people when there’s the opportunity, but there aren’t a lot of opportunities. And he’s getting more and more depressed. It’s hard to get out of bed, but he does. He puts on a suit and tie, sits at his computer, and looks. Eventually, he figures, he’ll find a job. I’m sure he’s right.
But probably no time soon. Who wants to hire someone who’s depressed?
I do think there’s another way to go through life with less pain and more success. A way to spend your year—of doing work and living your life—that’s a pleasure and a great match for you and your talents.
Give up.
Not completely. But mostly. Just stop trying so hard. Here’s my recipe:
1. Make a list of all the things you love doing or things that intrigue you that you’d like to try doing. This is brainstorming, so don’t limit the list or judge it; write down everything you can think of.
2. Separate the activities you do with people from the activities you do alone. For example,
The future teachers had practiced four thousand hours in their lifetime. The good performers, eight thousand hours. And those who were categorized as stars? Every single one of them had practiced at least ten thousand hours.
And here’s the compelling part: There wasn’t a single violinist who had practiced ten thousand hours who wasn’t a star. In other words, ten thousand hours of practice guaranteed you’d be a star violinist. According to Gladwell, ten thousand hours of practice is the magic number to become the best at anything.
Which is why you’d better enjoy
trying
to achieve your goals. Because you’ll never spend ten thousand hours doing anything you don’t enjoy. And if you don’t enjoy the trying part, you’ll never do it long enough to reach your goal.
Eventually, after five or six canceled meetings, Lily and I met for lunch. Which, as it turned out, was perfect timing. When we finally met, she had a real need, which hadn’t existed when we’d first started scheduling a meeting.
By this time, I was familiar to her and the company even though I had never done any work for them. I had been around for months and they trusted me because I followed through on every commitment I made to them.
That year, I signed a large contract with Lily’s company. Twelve years later, they’re still a big client of Bregman Partners. And they still cancel lots of meetings.
To home in on your passion, think about what you love doing—what’s important enough to you that you’re willing to persist over the year, even when it feels like you’re not succeeding at it.
14
A Recipe for Finding the Right Work
Element Four: Pursue Your Passion (Ease)
D o you know anyone who tried for years to have a baby but couldn’t? Then, after giving up, maybe after adopting, suddenly, surprisingly, got pregnant?
Or someone who was dying to be in a relationship? Dated all the time, but never met the right person. Then, after accepting he would be alone, started focusing on other things and, lo and behold, met someone and got married?
How about someone who lost her job? Maybe she spent the next year working on her résumé, perusing job sites, devoting all her energy to getting work. All to no avail. Then, after deciding to stop looking so hard, out of the blue came a great job offer?
What is that? A karmic journey? A miracle? Statistical aberration? Pure random chance? Perhaps it never really happens; perhaps we remember those stories precisely because they are so unusual.
Or perhaps, it’s a really great strategy.
I heard a story from a friend of mine. She knows a guy who’s been out of work for more than a year. He’s spent the year working on his résumé and sending it out. He’s on Internet job sites every day. He tries to meet with people when there’s the opportunity, but there aren’t a lot of opportunities. And he’s getting more and more depressed. It’s hard to get out of bed, but he does. He puts on a suit and tie, sits at his computer, and looks. Eventually, he figures, he’ll find a job. I’m sure he’s right.
But probably no time soon. Who wants to hire someone who’s depressed?
I do think there’s another way to go through life with less pain and more success. A way to spend your year—of doing work and living your life—that’s a pleasure and a great match for you and your talents.
Give up.
Not completely. But mostly. Just stop trying so hard. Here’s my recipe:
1. Make a list of all the things you love doing or things that intrigue you that you’d like to try doing. This is brainstorming, so don’t limit the list or judge it; write down everything you can think of.
2. Separate the activities you do with people from the activities you do alone. For example,
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